Digital Manuscript ProjectL'Innommable / The Unnamable

[2326.1] of it, I knew it would come, I
emerge from it to speak of it, I am
in it while I speak of it, if it's I
who speak, and it is not, I act as
if it were, often I act as if it were I,
but at length, was I ever there at length,
a long stay, I understand nothing
about duration, I can't speak of
[2326.1] it, I speak of it all right, I say
never and always, I speak of the
seasons and the different parts of the
day and of the night, the night has
no parts, that's because you are asleep,
the seasons must resemble one another,
perhaps it's springtime now, that's
all words they taught me, without
[2326.1] making their meaning clear to me,
that's how I learnt how to reason,
I use them all, all the words they
showed me, they were on lists
there were lists of them, ah what a
strange glow all of a sudden, they
were on lists, with images opposite,
I must have forgotten some, I must
[2326.1] have mixed them up, these nameless
images I have, these imageless names,
these windows that I would perhaps
be better advised to call doors, at
least by some other name, and this word
man which is perhaps not the right
one for the thing I see when I hear it,
[2326.2] but an instant, an hour, and so
[2326.2] on, how can they be represented, a
life, how could they make that clear
to me, here, in the dark, I call
that the dark, perhaps it's [blue]
azure, they are blank words, but I
use them, they come, all those they
showed me, all those I remember,
I need them all, to be able to go on,
[2326.2] it's a lie, twenty would do, [trusty] tried and trusty, unforgettable,
[trusty and] unforgettable [and nice]
[nicely] varied
nicely varied, that would be palette enough,
[2326.2] I'd mix them, I'd vary them, that would
be gamut enough, all the things I'd do,
if I could, if I wished, [and] if I could
wish, and so I will, I feel it coming,
that's how it will end, with heart
- Segments
L'Innommable / The Unnamable © 2013 Samuel Beckett Digital Manuscript Project.
Editors: Dirk Van Hulle, Shane Weller and Vincent Neyt